The Most Versatile and Highest Quality Portable Full Body Cycling Systems in the World
Home Training
Clinic-Based Rehab
Supine Physical Activity
Athletic Training and Warm Up
Upper Body Exercises
Standing Upper Body Ergometer
Optimal Pin Placement: Top hole. Stand tall, focus on good posture, keep chin up, back straight, shoulders back, and torso strong. Add squats, calf raises. jumping jacks, speed skates, and one-legged balance exercises for added complexity.
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Hand Ergometer While Sitting in Bed or on the Floor
Optimal Pin Placement: Top hole. Turn Excy system around, place front bar under sitting bones. Consider pillow under knees. Use a wall, couch, inclining surface (hospital bed or physical therapy table), or exercise ball for back support if needed.
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Hand Ergometer Squat-N-Cycle
Optimal Pin Placement: Top hole. Stand with feet apart, directly under your hips, and lower yourself into a squatted position. Knees shouldn’t extend beyond toes. Keep back flat, spine in neutral position. Keep shoulders over the pedal axis.
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Hand Pedal Bike Chair Workout
Optimal Pin Placement: Will vary. Turn Excy system around and place Front Bar under sitting bones in a chair. Place Rear Bar on stable surface (table, bed, box jumps, chair). Use pillows for added support. Focus on proper posture.
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Forward Standing Shoulder Rotation
Optimal Pin Placement: Lowest position (will vary). Place Excy on a table sideways. Align your body to be centered with the Excy system. Stand straight with proper posture. Keep elbow at 90 degrees. Focus on small motions.
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Side Standing Shoulder Rotation
Optimal Pin Placement: No pin (will vary). Place Excy on a table sideways. Turn body and place hip against the table with toes facing forward and feet shoulder-width apart.Align shoulder with pedal axis. Keep head level.
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Bicep Exercises Single Arm Curls
Optimal Pin Placement: Top hole. Place the hand of the arm you wish to exercise under the pedal with your palm facing up in a position to pull the pedal towards you. Crank the pedal to your chest while holding the Excy Rear firmly.
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Arm Ergometer Squat Stabilizer
Optimal Pin Placement: No pin (will vary). Place rear on firm surface away from the edge. Get into a squatted position. Keep back flat, spine in neutral position. Keep shoulders over the pedal axis. Pedal down into the surface. Stand for rest.
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Lower Body Exercises
Stationary Recumbent Chair Cycling
Optimal Pin Placement: Bottom hole. Place the Keeper on the seated surface and Connect Excy. Keep your back aligned with and tight against the back of the seat. Add arm weights or resistance bands for total body workout. Place chair against wall for added stability.
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Bedside Cycling / Chair Cycling
Optimal Pin Placement: No pin (will vary). Place Excy on the floor in front of a chair, a PT table, or bedside. Align your body to be centered with the Excy system. Push down on the front side of the pedal motion to prevent scooting. Add hand weights for whole body.
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Lying Down Exercise Cycling (Supine)
Optimal Pin Placement: No pin (will vary). Place Keeper on floor or bed and connect Excy. Lie down to cycle. Use stomach and back muscles to stabilize the trunk, pelvis, and to keep hips facing forward. Add abdominal crunches and bridge for added complexity.
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Cycling Lying Down with the New Hang On Bar to Increase Intensity
Optimal Pin Placement: Will vary based on goals. Resistance and angle of pelvis will drive intensity. Use all six Keeper holes and Keeper Posts Bands. Keep Hang On Bar at or below hips. Focus on core, leg, and back exercises. Ease into resistance range. Sit up to pedal hands.
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Exercise Ball Balance Cycling
Optimal Pin Placement: No pin (will vary). Place Keeper on floor and connect Excy. Place exercise ball on the Keeper near the rear base (place ball against a wall for balance assistance). Keep your core strong for balance and to stabilize the pelvis. Keep hips facing forward.
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Bedside Lying Down Exercise Cycling
Optimal Pin Placement: Bottom hole (will vary). Place Keeper on the side edge of the bed and connect Excy. Lie back on the bed/Keeper and pedal with your feet. Use stomach and back muscles to stabilize the trunk, pelvis, and to keep hips facing forward.
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Sitting Upright Cycling in Bed
Optimal Pin Placement: No pin (will vary). Place the Keeper on the floor and connect to Excy. Use a wall, couch, inclining surface (hospital bed or physical therapy table), or exercise ball for back support while pedaling legs. Keep torso strong.
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Total Body Exercises
Plank Cycling
No pin for this exercise. Place Excy on the floor and attach the Keeper. Get in plank position with hands on the pedals and toes on the Keeper. Keep shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles in line. Contract abdominal muscles, keep back straight, and eyes looking forward.
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Hip Flexor Stretch & Lunge
Optimal pin placement: Top or middle hole (will vary). Lie Keeper on floor and connect Excy. Hold pedals. Place right foot in front of yellow bar. Step your left foot back onto the Keeper. Bend right knee, straighten left leg and stretch hip flexor. Don’t extend knee beyond toes.
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Step & Unicycle Exercise
No pin for this exercise. Always hold onto something sturdy for stability. When standing on pedals, slightly bend knees 5-10 degrees to get into athletic position. Rock pedals back and forth to find center of balance. Focus on smooth motions, keep core engaged.
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Single Leg Balance Hand Cycle
Optimal pin placement: Top or middle hole (will vary). Lie Keeper on the floor and connect Excy. Hold pedals firmly with hands, bend both knees to a 90 degree angle, lift one leg up straight behind you and squeeze your glutes at the top of the motion. Keep pelvis straight.
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Rowing Exercise
Optimal pin placement: Top hole (will vary). Sit on floor or in a bed. Open Excy, turn it around and place chrome base under sitting bones. Open Slide to leg length (if no Slide, legs will extend over the bar). Slightly lean upper body back, engage core while cycling arms.
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Bridge Exercise for Couch Workout
No pin for this exercise. Lie down on the couch so that the upper back is on the couch with your hips unsupported and both feet on the pedals. Brace your entire core, extend the hips upwards into a bridge position using your glutes, quads, and hamstrings while cycling legs.
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Swim Exercises
Optimal pin placement: Will vary (focus on crank arm being 1 to 2 inches below shoulder). Lie down Keeper, place exercise ball on Keeper. Lie face down on the ball, place hands on pedals, spread feet for wide balance. Pull through cranking motion as if in the water.
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Tricep Dip Bridge Cycle
Optimal Pin Placement: Middle or top (will vary). Extend hands behind you, reach down, grab pedals. Keep feet in front of you (with Keeper preferred). Keep even weight on pedals. Thrust hips up, tighten core. Use stool to support weight if needed.
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Resistance Guidelines for Clinic and Home Physical Therapy
Excy offers a wide range of resistance to accommodate all riders, whether exercising in a clinic, watching TV, a hospital or using for home physical therapy. Depending on your goals, you may want to do more rotations or cranks with less resistance, or the opposite. Excy is designed to take either path or a combination of both. Generally, rotations with light to moderate resistance are used to improve cardio vascular endurance, while high resistance with fewer cranks are used to increase muscle size and strength. It is important to start easy before increasing tension as it is easy to get very sore muscles almost immediately doing high tension cranking motions that a person is not use to.
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Getting Started
There’s a big advantage of pedaling, spinning, or cranking Excy with controlled forces. Take time to pedal slowly at the easiest levels until it feels smooth and controlled before increasing resistance. Before pedaling, always protect your surface with a towel or mat.
Pedaling Forwards & Backwards
Whether using hands or feet, think in terms of square rotations to improve technique. Envision pushing your hand or foot forward along the top of a square and pushing down against the front side of the square and pulling towards your body as you pull up the backside of the square. To pedal backwards, follow the same process.
Back and Forth Strokes
Pedaling back and forth is great for range of motion and strength training. Simply apply pressure, unweight the opposite hand or foot in a repeating motion.
Isometrics
Instead of relying on pedaling with resistance cranked up to fatigue the muscle, you will instead set the resistance to easy and steadily press into the pedals with even forces to constrict your upper or lower body muscles and hold it until fatigue sets in.
Upper Body Setup Guidelines
- Palms facing each other
- 5-10 degree in elbow
- Pedal axis at shoulder or 1-2″ below
- Never hyper extend elbow
- Focus on good posture and engage core
- Pin placement will vary based on user preferences and goals
- Great for fitness or home physical therapy
Lower Body Setup Guidelines
- Start with heel on pedal with straight leg
- Cycle with the balls of your feet (aligned with metatarsal)
- 20-30 degree bend in knee while cycling
- Hips/feet/knees properly aligned (do not splay feet or knees inwards or outwards)
- Barefoot and socks favored
- Never hyper extend knee
- Pin placement will vary based on user preferences and goals
- Great for fitness and home physical therapy
Talk to Your Doctor
Before beginning this or any exercise program, consult a physician or health professional for recommendations, and be sure to read the Excy Owner’s Manual included with your Excy unit. Talk to your physical therapist about creating a home physical therapy program that works for you!